Blues lift spirits of 18-year-old battling leukemia

I fight for myself, Ari, Aunt Angie and Grandma.
That's what the handwritten tag on Ashley Freihoff's Hockey Fights Cancer jersey read as she anxiously awaited a visit from the Blues at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
Ashley, who would be celebrating her 18th birthday on Thursday, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in January and has been in and out of the hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatments for the last 11 months. As luck would have it, she was scheduled for treatment on a day the Blues would be visiting the hospital for the holidays, so she made sure to wear her lavender Hockey Fights Cancer Blues jersey in anticipation of their arrival.

Ashley was standing with her mom in the hospital corridor when Colton Parayko, Jake Allen and Chris Thorburn stepped off the elevator.
For a few seconds at least, she didn't know what to say.
All she could do was smile from ear to ear.
"(I was) nervous," Ashley said. "Very nervous. But I was so excited. They were inviting. They made me less nervous just by introducing themselves and asking me questions."

"As soon as we walked through the elevator doors, there's Ashley in her jersey from the Hockey Fights Cancer game. That was pretty cool to see," said Parayko. "She was literally the first person we saw in our visit. She knew who we all were and she wanted pictures and autographs and all that fun stuff. Hopefully we made her day."
What had started as another uncomfortable morning at the hospital had suddenly become a memorable afternoon. All three players signed her jersey and then presented her with a Blues snuggie, a hockey puck and an autograph book so she could collect more player signatures once she finishes her treatment.
Ashley has spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctors' offices over the last year, but right now, it appears she's entering the home stretch. Her treatments are becoming less frequent, and she's making fewer visits to the hospital these days. In fact, her scheduled visits are down to just once a month barring any unexpected complications.

Her mom, Denise, is relieved to know that things are looking up. She said she felt emotional seeing the Blues cheer her daughter up during
Wednesday's hospital visits, which also included trips to St. Louis Children's Hospital, Ranken Jordan Pediatric Specialty Hospital, Shiner's Hospital for Children and Mercy Children's Hospital
.
"I think it's amazing. It just does so much for the kids," Denise said. "It's great that they do that. Ashley was very excited, very excited. It's great for these kids. It cheers them up and gives them hope."
For Ashley, hope is a good thing. When you're 17 and the doctors tell you that you have cancer in the white blood cells of your bone marrow, it's quite a shock, so you grab onto whatever positive vibes you can.
"It's been a roller coaster," she said. "My (white blood cell) counts are always up and down, and I always have reactions to almost (all the medications) they give me. I've been admitted to the hospital a few times for reactions. My body doesn't like to follow the protocol, I guess. It's been a mess. But with all the nurses and doctors here, they've made it a lot smoother for me."
Ashley will have to continue monthly maintenance visits until June of 2019 and if all goes well, she will be declared cured in 2024.
Until that day, visits like Wednesday's visit from the Blues will continue to lift her spirits, just like they've lifted the spirits at Cardinal Glennon - if only for a moment.

"Today is a good day, a very, very good day," said Abbie Hedgpeth, a certified childhood specialist in the intensive care unit. "We're thankful to have the Blues come to visit, it's amazing for our families, especially at this time of year. We have a lot of patients in here where their smiles are just huge. I have a patient and I haven't seen him smile the whole time he's been here, but today he could not stop smiling. And we had a patient whose heart rate went up because he was so excited the Blues were here. Things like that, whenever you see reactions like that from the patients, it's pretty amazing to see."
Ashley will get to be home for Christmas this year, and for that, she's thankful. A lot of her peers will be spending the holiday in their hospital beds.
"It's tough obviously. These families are battling," Parayko said of Wednesday's visits. "It's amazing to see how they do it, and it's really impressive. But it makes you feel special to put a smile on a kid's face when they're going through such a tough time.
"When you see a smile on a kids' face that has been lying in a hospital bed for days, weeks or months, it's pretty touching. And when you get to know them a little bit - I don't know - it's just a small gesture to see a big reward. It's pretty touching."